"Guilty Pleasures"
By: Laura Lee Guhrke
Synopsis from Amazon:
One of Daphne Wade's guilty pleasures is to watch the Duke of Tremore as he works, shirtless, on the excavation site of his ducal estate. Anthony Courtland is by far the most exciting and handsome man she has ever known, and she dreams of one day being able to speak with him without getting tongue tied.
Anthony, meanwhile, only sees Daphne as a hard worker on his excavation team. He considers her a plain young lady and says so in a careless remark to a friend, unaware that Daphne is outside the library door, her heart shattering to pieces. So Daphne decides she will not be so silly any longer. She begins to be tutored in the social graces, forcing Anthony to see the beauty who has been right in front of his eyes.
My Thoughts:
In the mood for a romance, I picked up "Guilty Pleasures" out of my library book stack. A fan of Laura Lee Guhrke's earlier works, I was somewhat disappointed with this title, both in terms of characterization and the romance.
Daphne is your stereotypical smart girl behind her glasses. Sure she knows how to date a antique, but she doesn't know how to use her femininity to catch a husband. It isn't until she hears Anthony, the Duke, talking about how unattractive she is to his sister that she decides she doesn't need a man and goes through a transformation. Very much like Olivia Newton John in Grease.
Anthony is not a very good hero, plain and simple. He is arrogant, small minded and selfish. Every time he spoke, I just wanted to cringe. He honestly expects Daphne to come running to him because now he sees (insert air quotes) the real Daphne. Bleh. If you can't tell she's awesome when she's wearing her glasses, you shouldn't have her when she's out of them.
Please don't start reading Laura Lee Guhrke with this book. Many people enjoyed this one, but I just didn't see the appeal. A disappointment, I kept reading to get to the good parts but never got there.
Product Description
Publisher: Avon
Date of Publication: January 27, 2004
# of Pages: 384
ISBN: 978-0060541743
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